My cherished fellow Charioteers,
in April I will spend two weeks in the British Isles
before returning to California for roughly two months.
Having found Hunland increasingly unpalatable, and with my
job still based in California, a long working holiday
seems to be in order. That, and I have to obtain records
in California required for a Chinese work visa. I will be
visiting England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic
of Ireland before flying from Dublin to San Francisco.
The dates for my times in the British Isles is 8 April to
22nd April. Because of this, I will not be travelling to Scotland
in January.
Boadicea's Chariot 
Good morning Christopher and A Happy St Andrew’s Day to you. Just back from a party thereanent. We obviously had to hold it on the 29th as the 30th falls on the Sabbath this year and it would, therefore, never do to have too much carousing and dancing on the day itself.
Sorry to hear you won’t make it to Scotland in January. Please keep me advised as to your dates in April but we might, unfortunately, miss each other for your proposed Scottish leg as Mrs M and ! are doing Troy and Ephesus in mid April 2015,
It will be an interesting time for you to visit. As I am sure you know, Parliament will be dissolved on 30th March and the whole country will be in the midst of what promises to be a very messy and bitter General Election campaign.
Christopher I will hold the dates in my diary for any possible meetings with cherished Charioteers.
….and I thought I was a globetrotter! My head is spinning vicariously. In Germany, based in California, off to China via the British Isles….. As we used to quip, ‘Look no grass…’ 😉
John: I would be in Scotland in mid-April. As I am returning over Dublin, I could fly to Embra in late June as well.
Janus: technically domiciled in Germany, but as a result of bureaucratic incompetence and boffer unable to do more than whinge.
Papua Guinea: yes, let’s see what happens.
John: I am planning to go to Scotland in June/July, flying into Edinburgh on the 25th and departing for Inverness on the 29th before taking the Caledonian Sleeper to London.
Hate to say but I rather think taking any job in China might be a big mistake at the moment. With their flagging economy they seem to be getting a bit anti foreigner, one just gets curls, tendrils and whispers of it, nothing concrete as such. Wouldn’t stop looking elsewhere if I were you.
CO: it is a 1-year-contract as an English language teacher at an elite, state-run school in one of the wealthiest parts of China. I have already taken the position and am committed to it now. One of my friends had to pull a lot of strings to help me and he, and his parents, would be less than pleased if I did not take the position. Also, the year in China might help my career prospects in Europe.
Fair enough, sounds as safe as it possibly could be. Providing you keep your opinions to yourself!
(Not to many ‘hunnish’ sorts of comments!!)
Yes, I would have thought you may well be right about further career prospects. Pity really Germany has not been up to your expectations. It will be interesting to see how you view California when you get back there. Maybe a silver lining in that it will improve!
CO: oh, I have nothing to worry about in China. My opinion is entirely irrelevant.
So long as I do not stir up trouble they will ignore me. They have other things to worry about.
Do, however, expect a new series of essays from me: Living with the Han.
I have absolutely no desire to return to the US. If I would be left with the choice of only the US or Germany,
I would choose Germany. Germany might be obnoxiously pedantic, but life is predictable here — even if it is going down hill. The US is an absolute disaster. The only places that are somewhat nicer are either prohibitively expensive or terribly isolated.